CURRENTS: CARPETS; From Brooklyn, A (Very) Young Design Talent

By Aric Chen

Published: June 29, 2006

The newest designer to be tapped by Dune, a contemporary furnishings showroom in TriBeCa, was not plucked from one of the big design schools. He was discovered last September at the Lyc?Fran?s on the Upper East Side.

With his Shatter rug, introduced by Dune last month, 12-year-old Alberto Fr?ric G?, far right, joins such seasoned designers as Jeffrey Bernett, Fabien Baron and Eva Zeisel, who have all created products for the company.

His original design, which inspired the $4,250 rug, right, caught the attention of Dune's owner, Richard Shemtov, at a school fund-raiser where Alberto was selling his computer-generated drawings.

''I kept flipping through his prints and fixated on one,'' said Mr. Shemtov, near right, whose 5- and 9-year-old daughters also attend the Lyc?Fran?s. ''I knew right away that it was appropriate for us.''

The rug's pattern, a graphic explosion of intersecting lines, was derived from ''just drawing on the computer,'' said Alberto, who was born in Spain and lives with his parents in Marine Park, Brooklyn.

In addition to playing the violin and piano, the young designer has been honing his artistic skills by taking classes at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He has been drawing since he could hold a pencil, he said, and graduated to computer renderings when he was 7. Asked about his future plans, he paused. ''Maybe I'll be an architect,'' he said. Dune is at 88 Franklin Street, (212) 925-6171, dune-ny.com.